Praying the Our Father Today in the USA

Almost every day I try to get a 3 1/2 mile walk from my house to the river walk north of the 6th St bridge. It is the best hour of my day for a number of reasons.  Can’t overstate the physical & mental benefits walking affords me; the body tone, heart and lung strength, just getting away from the house &  the exercise allows me to eat more than I need without gaining too much weight. At 72 no small thing. Got my speaker with me and can listen to any music I want from my phone. 

 The other thing I do whenever I walk is turn the music off, get centered with life around the river, and pray the Our Father out loud, sometimes singing it, as loud as I can. (Often I am the only person on the riverwalk.)

And I pray, as if the Our Father is a prayer for disciples who are already followers of Jesus.

Below is the Our Father with my commentary.

One of Jesus’s disciples asked him to teach them their own prayer like John the Baptist did for his disciple. (Luke 11:1)

Jesus answered them.

First, you must name our God for who he is: “Our Father”

Then locate where Father God is: “Who art in Heaven”

Name the Prime Mission Father God gives Creation-Universe: “Hallow Be Thy Name”

Then recite the human side of the Mission: “Thy Kingdom Come, thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” (This is a Mission Statement for Jesus’s disciples. Mission Playbook found in Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John and the rest of the New Testament)

Then ask for 3 things:

For The Present ask:
Give us this day our daily bread. (This is not just a prayer to meet our daily needs. It is also a prayer to keep what is more than our daily needs from accumulating in our possession. For what we don’t need on a daily basis by Gospel terms, belong to the poor.)

For the past ask:
Forgive us our “Sins”, “Debts” and/or “Trespasses” as we forgive others who have done the same to us. (This is a healing petition for all past wounds or sorrows.)

For the future ask:
“And lead us not into temptation (Today in the USA this means assimilation into our pro-Rich, pro-War pro-USA Empire culture)”

But (above all) deliver us from Evil (today that means the consequences of our Wealth, Victory in WW II, and the Global USA Empire. i.e. 23rd Century wars, famine, disease, poverty, violence, addictions, creation destruction, and all types of unnatural human-made death.)

Amen

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This essay originally appeared in Frank Cordaro’s Writings and Archives.